Poetry: Footprints In Time

(This poem was written in December of 1998 in anticipation of the new millennium which began January 2000. It was previously published in a GSA, Black History Month booklet in February 1999)

Original Poetry by Taylor Gilmore

Footprints in Time

America’s House

Was founded on the backs

Of millions upon millions

Of beautiful blacks.

As a house can only be as

Strong as her foundation

Our ancestors were the mighty force

Which built this powerful nation

Chained together in the bellies of ships

They slowly made their unwilling arrival

Strength of spirit and reverence for life

Were the tools of their unlikely survival

 

So many lives shattered like mirrors

Blinding reflections

Casting prisms of pain

Why were the colors so beautiful

What fueled their strength

What kept them sane

It seems they had all

Of the answers before

The questions even began

 

Humiliation was answered

With humility

Degradation was answered

With dignity

Their faith never faltered

In the face of ferocity

 

With a strength

That could only come

From the Divine

Forward they marched

Onward they marched

Stamping their Footprints in Time